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Mara Hautea Schnittka known professionally as Julia Montes, is a Filipino actress of German descent. She began acting as a child on television by playing guest roles and starring in Goin' Bulilit. Montes gained widespread recognition with her first significant role and breakthrough playing the mean and spoiled Clara del Valle in the remake of Mara Clara (2010-11), following which she made her film debut in the family drama Way Back Home (2011).

After Mara Clara ended, she starred in the critically acclaimed romantic drama Walang Hanggan (2012), as Katerina Alcantara, for which she won the Princess of Philippine Television Award, and in Muling Buksan Ang Puso (2013), as Sarah Beltran. For her role as Mona Hidalgo in the period drama Ikaw Lamang (2014), she won a Gawad Tanglaw Award for Best Actress and received a nomination for the PMPC Star Award for Best Drama Supporting Actress. Montes subsequently won her second Gawad Tanglaw Award for Best Actress and received a nomination for the PMPC Star Award for Best Drama Actress when she headlined the melodrama Doble Kara (2015-17), as identical twin sisters Kara Dela Rosa and Sara Suarez. She stars in the lead role of Ana Dimasalang in the political drama Asintado (2018).

In films, she starred in the romantic drama A Moment in Time (2013), as Jillian Linden, for which she was nominated for the FAMAS Award for Best Actress, and the romantic horror Halik sa Hangin (2015), as Mia Generoso, for which she earned a nomination for the Young Critics Circle Award for Best Performance. Other film appearances include the romantic comedy The Reunion (2012), the horror adventure The Strangers (2012) and the independent drama Padre de Familia (2016).

Julia Montes was born Mara Hautea Schnittka on March 19, 1995, in Pandacan, Manila, Philippines, to a Filipino mother, Gemma Hautea, and German father, Martin Schnittka. Schnittka left them when Montes was still a baby, and only her deaf mother raised her with the help of her grandmother, Flory Hautea. She has two younger brothers, Patrick and Paolo. She describes education as one of the tools to have a good life and she hopes to continuously work not just for herself but for her family as well. Montes has other relatives in Germany. In 2011, she finished high school with good grades at the Blessed Hope Christian School.

At the age of 5, Montes began attending auditions and modeling agencies. She recalls the struggles she and her grandmother went through: commuting to castings, hurrying from school to shoots and missing a lot of family time in the process until she was cast in a milk brand, chocolate snack and fast food chain endorsements. However, she said she never competed with anyone and was just in the entertainment industry out of needs. Describing her ambitions as a child, Montes has said, "Since I was a child, I only had three dreams: to become a soldier, a chef and a flight attendant."

Montes started as a commercial model before appearing in various television shows. She began her acting career with minor roles when she was cast in a number of GMA shows such as Sana Ay Ikaw Na Nga in 2001 as the daughter of actors Robin Da Rosa and Angelu de Leon, and in some episodes of the now defunct drama anthology Magpakailanman. Montes went on to play guest roles on ABS-CBN's television shows such as Hiram (2004) and Maalaala Mo Kaya before landing a permanent spot in the kiddie gag show Goin' Bulilit in 2005. She also appeared in other television series in 2008 including Ligaw na Bulaklak and I Love Betty La Fea. These parts led her to being cast as a series regular in Goin' Bulilit in which she played various roles in different comedic situations until her departure that year. Also that year, Montes, as Abby, starred in a Maalaala Mo Kaya episode titled "Card", a story of a girl who is longing for the love of her parents while under the care of a nursemaid. The following year, she appeared in Katorse with a guest role in the series' finale episode playing a shy girl Nellie. She was then cast as the teenage Mara, a character with her same name, in the youth-oriented show Gimik 2010.

In 2010, Montes' breakthrough role came when she portrayed the role of Clara del Valle/David in the remake of Emil Cruz, Jr.'s longest-running classic soap opera Mara Clara, a drama about teenage sibling rivalry, alongside her co-star and off-screen best friend Kathryn Bernardo. Montes changed her screen name from "Mara Montes" to "Julia Montes" to avoid confusion and complications, since the titular character Mara will be played by Bernardo. The finale episode of the series earned a 43.4% national ratings based on Kantar Media, making it the highest-rating teleserye episode to date aired on ABS-CBN that year. Montes' portrayal as the main antiheroine of the series received generally positive reviews and landed her lead roles in films and television series in her future projects.

In 2011, Montes made her film debut in the family drama Way Back Home, which opened in August 2011 to positive reviews, as Jessica "Jessie" Lorraine S. Santiago, alongside Mara Clara co-star Kathryn Bernardo. Montes garnered largely positive reviews by critics, with Abby Mendoza of Philippine Entertainment Portal writing, "One should applaud Julia Montes for deviating from the classic snotty, mean girl character who makes life miserable for the downtrodden Mara. It is Julia's strength to gain the sympathy of the audience while playing the angsty girl who harbors much pain. She has the ability to make her audience understand the pain her character is going through, and more importantly make them see where it is coming from. Julia was astounding." That same year, she worked with Bernado for the third time in the youth-oriented show entitled Growing Up, in which she portrayed the role of Samantha "Tammy" Magtoto, the daughter of an OFW who entrusted his care to Mikaella Dimalanta (played by Bernardo).

In 2012, greater success came to Montes when she starred with Coco Martin in the romantic drama series Walang Hanggan. The critically acclaimed series is loosely based on the 1991 film Hihintayin Kita Sa Langit, a film based on the Emily Brontë classic novel, Wuthering Heights. Walang Hanggan features the undying love that revolves around characters from three different generations - the love triangle among Virginia, Margaret, and Joseph; the ill-fated lovers Marco and Emily; and young sweethearts Daniel and Katerina. The series includes Martin as Daniel Guidotti, Richard Gomez as Marco Montenegro, Dawn Zulueta as Emily Guidotti, Susan Roces as Virginia "Henya" Cruz, Helen Gamboa as Doña Margaret Montenegro, and Montes, as Katerina Alcantara.This also marks the first on-screen team-up of Coco Martin and Julia Montes, and the reunion project of eternal loveteam Richard Gomez and Dawn Zulueta. Writing for Philippine Entertainment Portal, Mark Angelo Ching considered Montes' decision to jump to a mature role after playing a teenager in Mara Clara seemingly to be a "gamble" at first, but all doubts are dispelled once she is seen holding her own against Martin, and believed that her "natural naïveté" works against the mature outlook of the actor's character.

The series and Montes' performance both earned widespread acclaim from critics as it maintained the top spot and dominated the viewers' ratings for most of its run, being the only Philippine drama of 2012 to exceed the 40% margin in ratings. The finale episode of the show garnered a 45.4% viewership rating nationwide. Walang Hanggan emerged as the most watched show during the second half of 2012, ruling the list with a whopping national TV rating of 38.4% based on Kantar Media. Due to the series' phenomenal success, Walang Hanggan was aired internationally in foreign countries along with Ina, Kapatid, Anak, and Be Careful With My Heart. The series earned Montes the title of "Phenomenal Primetime Princess;" eventually she was named as the "Princess of Philippine Television" during the 44th Box Office Entertainment Awards (GMMSFI). Martin, on the other hand, acquired the title "Prince of Philippine Television". For their rapport in Walang Hanggan, Montes and Martin also placed 2nd as the most popular loveteams at the 4th FMTM Awards.

In June 2015, Montes completed a culinary course at the Center for Culinary Arts, Manila along with her fellow actress Yam Concepcion. She is a practicing Catholic. In December 2016, Montes was reunited with her birth father, Martin Schnittka, at Bellini's, Cubao, Quezon City. She revealed via Instagram about her encounter with her father and expressed gratitude towards her German cousin Michelle Lloyd and CocoJul fans for paving the way to meet him.

In 2017, Montes had entered talks to star in Brillante Mendoza's independent film Doctors to the Barrio. In 2018, Montes stars in the political drama Asintado alongside Lorna Tolentino, Paulo Avelino, Shaina Magdayao, Agot Isidro, Cherry Pie Picache, and Aljur Abrenica. She plays Ana Dimasalang, a paramedic who became Gael Ojeda's personal nurse after saving him from an accident and fell in love with him; she becomes involved in an assassination plot arranged by the del Mundos and Ojedas upon witnessing their plan.

Awards

Julia Montes

FAMAS Awards

Star Awards for Movies

Young Critics Circle, Philippines

Entertainment Editors' Choice Awards

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